water pump

accelerating at a green light my 98 cavalier made somewhat of a slight boom sound and the power steering was gone, the temp guage went directly to hot, and the dummy light for the battery came on. I pulled over and shut the car off, popped the hood and could see antifreeze all over everything on the bottom portion of the passenger side of the motor. It covered the right front tire and splashed up onto the side of the car. I also noticed that the serpentine belt had no tension and could be pulled right off the pulley for the alternator very easily by hand, hence the power steering and battery light. My guess is the water pump, because all rad hoses appear fine, as does the radiator. could someone tell me if im on the right track?

Reply to
Midget Tosser
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Reply to
Shep

would that cause the antifreeze to spray all over the place?

Reply to
Amber

Reply to
Shep

Reply to
Shep

You have to determine first if the belt is still around all the pulleys it is suppose to be. Also feel the water pump pulley for extreme play and if it will turn freely (if it is still attached to the pump). You have to do a little sightie, feelie and determine what the situation is. The pump could have frozen and caused the belt to jump a pulley, or leaking antifreeze could have caused the belt to slide off the tensioner or a pulley but that is all guess work.

Reply to
Woody

Not if just the tensioner came apart. The original poster did not say if he pulled over immediatly or not. If he pulled over immediately, and saw the antifreeze, then it is possible that the tensioner coming apart caused other damage to the coolant system.

If he drove it for a while with no power steering and the battery light on, and it did overheat, then it would cause a coolant overflow or possible more engine damage.

Eightupman

Reply to
Eightupman

its my girlfriends car and yes she drove it for about a half a mile before calling me and i told her to pull over immediately. i told my mechanic what happened and he said the pulley probably broke off of the water pump. after closer inspection, i found a pulley that seems to be wedged in somewhere under the alternator where it doesnt look like its supposed to be. my mechanic is taking it under the knife today. thanks for all the help

Reply to
Midget Tosser

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